Checking Out Me History

Agard's poem about a curriculum that taught him everything except himself. Identity, and who writes history.

What it is

A poem in which the speaker contrasts the British history he was taught with the Black and Caribbean history he was not, and asserts his own identity.

A standard anthology poem in the Power and Conflict cluster.

Where it applies

English Literature poetry anthology, usually compared on identity or power.

How it works

The form does the argument. The British history sections are in short, nursery-rhyme-like rhymed lines — trivialised, sing-song, learned by rote. The sections about Toussaint L'Ouverture, Nanny de Maroon and Mary Seacole are in unrhymed, italicised free verse: dignified, given room.

The phonetic spelling of Caribbean English is a claim of authority over his own language, not an error.

"Bandage up me eye with me own history" — the education blinds by what it omits.

How to use it in your work

The two forms in one poem is the point. Write about the contrast rather than about either half.

Say who the named figures are and why their absence matters. That is context earning its marks.

Compare with any poem about identity, language or power over narrative.

Where to get help

Your teacher, first — set texts vary by board and by school, and yours is the one that counts. Your board's past papers and examiners' reports are free online and say plainly what separates the bands.